Project Sponsors Research Articles

Foreword

The 2022 special issue of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Review highlights top papers from the 2022 Annual General Donald R. Keith memorial capstone conference held at the United States Military Academy (USMA), West Point, NY on the 28th of April. The conference fully returned to an in-person event while also offering opportunities for judges and observers to remotely participate. Following a careful review of fifty-three conference proceedings approved papers, thirteen were selected for publication in this journal. Each of the thirteen papers incorporated features of systems or industrial engineering and presented thoughtful and reflective analysis on each topic and represent nine of ten tracks following peer review and external judging of the research. Thank you to all the academic institutional support, project sponsors, supporting faculty, and certainly to the 2022 undergraduate scholars and authors who provided significant contributions through applied research for the advancement of their fields of study! COL James H. Schreiner, PhD, PMP, CPEM Dr. Kenneth W. McDonald, PhD, PE, PMP

Leadership and the Recovery of Troubled IT Projects

The impact of specific types of leadership behaviors on recovery processes and the success of troubled information technology projects was investigated. A theoretical model of leadership for troubled IT projects is proposed. Control and transformational leadership behaviors are hypothesized to affect different recovery processes and through these processes affect project success. A survey instrument based on previously validated theoretical constructs from the IT troubled projects and leadership research was used to gather data from project managers, team members, and project sponsors. The results indicate strong support for the proposed model. Implications for practitioners and researchers are suggested.

Future campus connection: By design or by default

Now more than ever, tertiary educators should be able to answer the question, ‘why are we teaching on campus?’ Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we, as a group of education design staff in the central learning and teaching unit at Massey University, started questioning the notion of campus as the default space for learning. In doing so, we discovered opportunities to: better support students’ diverse needs and life loads; operationalise transition pedagogies; and harness the specific learning experiences only a campus can provide, while embracing the affordances of modern technology to enhance learning. As our unit is well placed to surface these possibilities and advocate for change, the notion of intentional campus connection is a key theme in various projects with which we engage. Collaborative project work focused on intentional design allows for the learner and the learning task to be put at the centre of the experience. Why are campus attendance decisions made? What knowledge, skills, or values are students expected to experience or demonstrate during these campus sessions? Only when we ask exactly what teachers require students to demonstrate and/or experience can we then determine the space that best accommodates the learner and the task. In some cases, existing research on learning spaces can guide us – for example, self?paced (asynchronous) online learning is a flexible and effective way for students to engage with new core knowledge (Mullen, 2020; Ng, 2015; Petronzi & Petronzi, 2020; Reidsema et al., 2017) – and in others, we can often be guided by ethical considerations. We have observed two responses when the topic of selecting learning spaces is raised in projects. The first, most common, is the decision is made based on traditions and teacher-centered practices that have, in some contexts, a questionable role in contemporary learning environments, especially for mature, distance cohorts. These campus decisions often occur by default, when teaching teams work independently from educational design teams. The second response involves a design decision led by a need for students to engage in or evidence learning on campus as it cannot (easily) be achieved any other way. For example, they may need to access special facilities or resources (e.g., gain confidence and evidence readiness in a simulation lab before work-integrated-learning experiences), or participate in an occasion that cannot be replicated online (e.g., get the opportunity to find a project sponsor at a business networking event). Our collaboration with teaching teams is often the catalyst for robust discussions that, when successful, lead to campus connections that reflect modern, learner-centered, intentional approaches to learning design. Through examples of programme and course level design changes, this poster will explore the phased approaches, systemic and cultural challenges that authentic blended design surfaces, and the future opportunities that our work has uncovered on the path to encouraging intentional connections to campus.

Using human factors principles to redesign a 3D lab workflow during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundLike most hospitals, our hospital experienced COVID-19 pandemic-related supply chain shortages. Our additive manufacturing lab’s capacity to offset these shortages was soon overwhelmed, leading to a need to improve the efficiency of our existing workflow. We undertook a work system analysis guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) construct which is based on human factors and quality improvement principles. Our objective was to understand the inefficiencies in project submission, review, and acceptance decisions, and make systematic improvements to optimize lab operations.MethodsContextual inquiry (interviews and workflow analysis) revealed suboptimal characteristics of the system, specifically, reliance on a single person to facilitate work and, at times, fractured communication with project sponsors, with root causes related to the project intake and evaluation process as identified through SEIPS tools. As interventions, the analysis led us to: 1) enhance an existing but underused project submission form, 2) design and implement an internal project scorecard to standardize evaluation of requests, and 3) distribute the responsibility of submission evaluation across lab members. We implemented these interventions in May 2021 for new projects and compare them to our baseline February 1, 2018 through – April 30, 2021 performance (1184 days).ResultsAll project requests were submitted using the enhanced project submission form and all received a standardized evaluation with the project scorecard. Prior to interventions, we completed 35/79 (44%) of projects, compared to 12/20 (60%) of projects after interventions were implemented. Time to review new submissions was reduced from an average of 58 days to 4 days. A more distributed team responsibility structure permitted improved workflow with no increase in staffing, allowing the Lab Manager to devote more time to engineering rather than administrative/decision tasks.ConclusionsBy optimizing our workflows utilizing a human factors approach, we improved the work system of our additive manufacturing lab to be responsive to the urgent needs of the pandemic. The current workflow provides insights for labs aiming to meet the growing demand for point-of-care manufacturing.

Project cost performance factors in the war-affected and conflict-sensitive Afghan construction industry

PurposeThe Afghan construction industry faces resource shortages and heavily relies on foreign aid to fund public projects on the path to recovery and reconstruction. While the resource constraints demand cost-efficient delivery of construction projects, many Afghan public projects experience delays and cost overruns. This study aims to evaluate various attributes and factors influencing cost performance in public construction projects in Afghanistan.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review and Delphi method identified 30 cost performance attributes relevant to the context of Afghanistan. Next, a questionnaire survey was conducted with construction management professionals working in the public sector in the Afghan construction industry to evaluate these attributes.FindingsThis study found that the lack of resources, poor project management skills and corruption in procurement are the leading causes behind cost overruns in Afghan public projects. This study also identified five latent factors influencing cost performance in public projects in Afghanistan: competency of the project team, socioeconomic and political support, governance and public procurement, planning and risk management and project characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsThe exploratory factor analysis did not reveal the relative significance of different cost performance success factors. Moreover, the ranking of cost performance attributes is based on the responses from the public sector construction professionals only.Practical implicationsThe construction industry in Afghanistan significantly contributes to the country’s social and economic growth and employment. This study’s findings will help researchers, project sponsors, government departments and industry practitioners interested in improving the cost performance in Afghan public projects.Originality/valueGiven the scarcity of research in war-affected and conflict-sensitive regions, this study fills a research gap on project cost performance by providing insights into the cost performance success factors in public projects in Afghanistan.

Federally-Mandated Evaluation of New Starts Transit Projects

Over the last 20 years, numerous metropolitan regions in the U.S. have implemented new, and upgraded existing, rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) fixed guideway systems funded by the federal “New Starts” program. Now, one condition of receipt of federal New Starts funds is that the project sponsor conduct an evaluation, called a Before and After Study, to determine the cost and ridership impacts of the transit project. Upon completion of this study, it must be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is mandated to summarize these reports and submit them as an annual New Starts Before and After Studies Report to Congress. Based on a review of the annual New Starts reports that have been conducted to date, this paper describes the key findings of these Before and After Studies and analyzes their implications for mandated program evaluation research in the transit field.

Sponsor's performance in governance project based on the visual management model Life cycle canvas®: evidence from a public educational institution

The present work aims to examine how the Life Cycle Canvas® visual model influences the performance of the governance function performed by the project sponsor in the project life cycle of a public educational institution. A research with case study procedures was carried out, where the subjects of this research comprised the members of the institution's project office and the sponsors themselves. Data collection was carried out through individual semi-structured interviews and the analysis was carried out through content analysis. The previously defined data analysis categories represented the six dimensions of sponsor roles in the context of project governance pointed out by Crawford et al. (2008). As a result, it was identified that the Life Cycle Canvas® visual model can contribute to the performance of this role in the six dimensions suggested by Crawford et al. (2008), and taking into account the list of identified codes, it can be argued that it helps, mainly, in the dimensions “govern the project”, “guide and make decisions” and “critically review progress”. Relationships with the main governance theories linked to project management were also identified. In this way, the work suggests that the Life Cycle Canvas® visual model can be an important tool to improve the governance performance that the sponsor must have, allowing him to see his role throughout the life cycle of a project.

Managing sensitive contractual disputes in construction: the Orange Line Metro Train Lahore project

Learning outcomes The key teaching objectives of the case are the following:▪ to develop an awareness of a megaproject’s external environment (through PESTLE) in terms of challenges from each source;▪ to introduce theory that allows students to identify, characterise and describe factors that can lead to inter-organisational conflict during construction projects;▪ to develop the ability to apply the typology of causal factors (identified in Objective 2) to a given context, answering why each factor may have contributed to the given contractual dispute;▪ to develop an understanding of the procurement and contract management process wherein contracts are not only the logical outcome of the procurement process but also the primary vehicles for clarifying responsibilities (for task completion) and risk transfer; and▪ to understand specific dynamics of construction projects that make disputes inevitable and ways to overcome these. Case overview/synopsis Priced at US$1.63bn (in 2015), the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project in Lahore was one of Pakistan’s earliest (and costliest!) transport infrastructure megaprojects ever undertaken. Devised to ease congestion in Lahore, promote ecofriendly, efficient, modern and affordable transport systems and lead to improved mobility across Lahore, the OLMT was a socially, politically and economically important project.The case is seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Uzair Shah, a seasoned public servant and an experienced Transport Engineer. At the time of the decision, Shah was General Manager – Operations at the newly established Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA – the project sponsor) and was also the project lead of OLMT’s Project Management Unit (PMU). Through Shah’s eyes, students approach the project at a juncture when the most serious contractual dispute in the project’s history has erupted. The parties at the interface were Lahore Development Authority (LDA), PMU’s technical interface with contractors and consultants and Maqbool-Colson Joint Venture (MCJV), one of the two civil work contractors hired for OLMT’s civil works.While quality issues had been emerging with MCJV for a few months, LDA had maintained unilateral communications and remained considerably adversarial in their dealings with MCJV. Eventually, in October 2016, this relationship had soured to such an extent that it appeared irreconcilable. It was only then that LDA had recommended Shah to take the contractor to court for non-performance.The decision that Uzair faced was whether to take LDA’s advice and take the contractor to court (terminate the contract, claim performance guarantee and appoint a new contractor) or negotiate and continue with the current contract. The decision had huge financial, legal, reputational, political and schedule-related implications. The decision needed to be taken by the protagonist in the context of all these factors. Complexity academic level The case was initially developed for use within a Procurement and Contracts Management course for a (business) executive audience. The case is intended for the business school audience or students enrolled in courses related to the construction management discipline.Courses where the case can be used include Construction Project Management, Public Sector Projects, Contracts and Procurement and Strategic Projects and Practice (or similar). The case can also be used within an MBA setting. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS: 9: Operations and Logistics.

Project managers' reactions to project disruption: sponsor actions versus environmental uncertainty

PurposeManaging projects is an important part of operations management, but many projects fail. This study focuses on attribution processes of such disruption from the underrepresented perspective of the project manager. The authors consider two types of causes: the more frequently researched environmental uncertainty (i.e. uncontrollable events) and the scarcely researched uncertainty imposed by non-collaborative project sponsors (i.e. other-controllable events).Design/methodology/approachThe authors test conceptual arguments grounded in attribution theory and the notion of psychological contracts in a scenario-based experiment among 325 practicing project managers.FindingsThe findings indicate that non-collaborative project sponsors negatively affect project managers' motivation, whereas uncontrollable disruptions leave hope to achieve positive future outcomes. This latter effect is further strengthened when project managers have an internal attribution style. They tend to blame the disruption on themselves and generally feel in control of achieving success even if they are not.Originality/valueThese socio-psychological insights nuance the economic idea that uncertainty reduces motivation per se in the context of project disruption appraisal. The authors contribute to the behavioral project management literature and general attribution theory and help guide the allocation of resources during the recovery of failed projects.

One Person Plays Multiple Roles: The Diversified Roles and Functions of Convention Project Hosts by SEM Methods

In a convention project, the relationship between the host and professional conference organizers has an important impact on the convention project promotion. However, as an important stakeholder of the convention, the role of hosts in the project is less concerned and studied. Therefore, based on theories of project governance, this paper combines the role of the convention project hosts from the perspective of the project sponsors and formulates the convention hosts’ role measuring scale with the project sponsor measuring scale. Then, through content validity analysis and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the scale was optimized and nine items were finally determined. The study found that the hosts of the convention project play three roles in the convention project, the customer role, the controller role, and the supporter role, and verified through the SEM that all three roles have a positive effect on the convention project performance.

THE MANY LIVES OF CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY

THE MANY LIVES OF CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY

Embedding experiential learning in undergraduate health promotion curriculum.

The experiential teaching method draws on research-based principles of adult education. The integration of academic learning and practice provides students opportunities to increase their knowledge while developing capabilities to meet the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Core Competencies and Professional Standards. Community Health Promotion is a second-year subject offered in the Bachelor of Health Sciences at La Trobe University. The project-based curriculum, delivered over 12 weeks, consists of theoretical material which students apply through hands-on project planning, implementation and evaluation; projects are carried out on campus. To bridge academic content and project practicalities the Victorian government's Integrated Health Promotion Resource Kit is used as a foundational teaching resource. Students are supported by teaching staff and a project sponsor throughout the project cycle. Assessment tasks comprised of problem definition and priority setting, project planning and critical reflection on project implementation. The experiential learning approach enables students, in a self-directed yet collaborative manner, to develop skills aligned with health promotion competencies. Students were able to safely "experiment" and apply health promotion theory while actively developing project management and partnerships skills, reflecting on their practice and communicating project findings. Students consistently provide feedback articulating the value they place on the purposeful and scaffolded transition of classroom learning to real-life environments which they recognised as building their competencies and enhancing their employability skills. Experiential learning through small-group projects prepares students for the health promotion workforce in a low-risk, high-impact educational setting while contributing to promoting the ethos of a health-promoting university. SO WHAT?: The authentic assessments provide students with the opportunity to develop competency within several domains of the IUHPE Core Competencies and Professional Standards.

Feeling “holier than thou”: exploring the critical nexus between project governance, exploitative leadership and multi-dimensional success in ICT projects

PurposeProject managers are under a never-ending pressure to demonstrate the expected value of projects to the project sponsors; however, in most cases, project managers fail to realize this strategic value due to the loopholes left in project governance throughout various stages of the project life cycle. Furthermore, another root cause of project failure might be linked to an exceedingly self-interested project leader who is exploitative of his/her team. This is a recurring yet still unexplored aspect of destructive leadership that requires attention from the scientific community as well as practitioners. Hence, the present study explored the relationship between project governance and information and communication technology (ICT) project success, as well as the moderating effects of exploitative leadership on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachWith this aim, 357 responses were collected from project professionals in the emerging ICT industry in Pakistan, and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with partial least squares (PLS).FindingsThe findings provide new evidence that project governance significantly improves project success opportunities in the ICT industry; however, this relationship is negatively moderated by exploitative leadership.Originality/valueThe study findings extend the project leadership literature by uncovering the influence of the dark side of project leadership (i.e. exploitative leadership), in addition to revalidating the impact of project governance on project success through a multi-dimensional context.

Procurement Benchmarks for Major Transportation Projects

The U.S. transportation industry has long called for a schedule and cost benchmark tool to assist project sponsors with developing project delivery plans benchmarked in reference to similar past projects across the nation. Such a benchmark tool has recently been developed in response to the industry demand and a mandate of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. The tool capitalized on the Information Source for Major Projects database, which adopted standard processes and uniform terminology for documenting critical milestones throughout the project lifecycle. Based on 137 major transportation projects, the benchmark model produces schedule benchmarks on environmental study, procurement, and implementation processes. Also, the benchmark tool recommends a cost benchmark based on the Federal Highway Administration’s standard. Users have the flexibility to define a benchmark level and a suite of project features including type, size, class of action required under the National Environmental Policy Act, and delivery method such as design-bid-build, design-build or public–private partnerships. Benchmark level is the percentage of projects that outperform the other projects with the same selected features. The tool promises immense potential for milestone planning and can provide insightful expectation of project milestones in support of delivery method selection. Included in the tool are benchmark charts, a handy reference from which schedule benchmarks can be read. This paper demonstrates the use of the tool in a case example.

Managing Sustainable Energy Projects: A Review on Success Factors

Purpose: This paper aims to compile consideration factors for the success of Renewable Energy projects. The chances of completing a renewable energy (RE) project are still an issue. Over the past decade, researchers have sought to identify the barriers to the project and the key success factors for successful projects. But a comprehensive set of success factors is lacking. Method: A systematic review was conducted using 92 research articles and 45 secondary reports. Literature identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion steps were followed based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Flow Diagram. Findings: As a result, 61 success factors were compiled and classified into nine different categories: Project Strategy, Policies & Politics, Project Attributes, Stakeholder Interactions, Project Parameters, Culture & Leadership Resources, Managing Risks and Project Governance. Originality: A unique scientific tool has been proposed to calculate project success probability. Each success factor score is based on a Likert scale of 1-5 to calculate weighted average value of each category leading to the success probability. This tool will be beneficial for project management practitioners, project sponsors, government agencies, policy makers and researchers. Limitation/Implications: The comprehensive set of project success factors is considered for RE projects only. However, a similar approach can be applied to other projects to ensure higher success. It has been recommended that the project team assess each factor score frequently and make every effort to raise each category score to 5 as much as is realistically possible.

Teacher Professional Preparedness to Support Learners with Special Needs in the Inclusive Education Project Schools

Globally, there is evidence that teachers’ skills are of paramount importance in the implementation of inclusive education so as to unlock the potential of learners with disabilities. The Government of Kenya’s re-introduction of the Free Primary Education programme in 2003 saw an influx of learners to schools, including those with disabilities. However, learners with special needs soon dropped out due to lack of support (MOEST 2003), as teachers did not know what to do with these learners in their classrooms. In 2010, through constitution of Kenya (Republic of Kenya 2010), the Government committed itself to provide free and compulsory basic education to all learners. However, the education and training policy for learners and trainees with disabilities (MOE 2018a) notes that dropout rates of learners with disabilities are high in regular schools due to the insufficiently trained teachers.This paper presents findings of a study carried out in Nairobi and Homabay counties in Kenya with regard to teacher professional preparedness to support learners with special needs in inclusive project schools sponsored by Sight Savers and Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) in Kenya. The study sample comprised of 8 schools from urban and rural focusing on learners in standard 4 to 8 in Nairobi city and Homabay counties. A total of 160 learners in inclusive public primary schools, 8 head teachers, 80 teachers, 2 sponsors and 2 coordinators were involved in the study. Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews schedules and focus group discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, which were computed in frequencies and percentages and presented in frequency tables and graphs. At the same time, qualitative data were analyzed using thematic approach in line with the study objectives.The study findings revealed that teacher’s college training prepared them to teach regular learners, hence they were not prepared to teach in inclusive classrooms. Teachers not only revealed that they had difficulties identifying the specific needs of learners, they also confirmed their inability to support them in the inclusive classrooms. The findings further revealed that most of the head teachers who are in charge of the curriculum implementation in schools did not have any training in special needs education. To fill these training gaps, the project sponsors (Sight Savers International and Leonard Cheshire Disability) were implementing regular in-house training to enable teachers support learners with disabilities. These organizations also had coordinators, resource persons and patron teachers who were mentoring teachers at the school level on teaching-learning resources to confirm their relevancy. This was meant to bring about changes of attitude on disability, effective use of learner-centred approach in the classroom, developing Individualised Education Programme (IEP), lesson planning and reporting on quarterly basis. Keywords: Teacher professional preparedness, inclusive project schools and learners with special needs. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-15-01 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

The Collaborative Iron Triangle: A New Tool for Supporting a Project-Culture-Aware Management in Interorganizational R&D Projects

AbstractSince project managers still face problems in managing interorganizational R&D projects, it is a promising approach to manage these projects project-culturally-aware. However, an important prerequisite for a project-culture-aware management is that the involved individual organizations pursue a collaborative strategy. Therefore, our article provides a conceptual approach including a new tool, the Collaborative Iron Triangle, which supports both project sponsors and managers in different phases of the collaboration process to pursue a collaborative strategy in interorganizational R&D projects.

Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund by Frank Wolff

Reviewed by: Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund by Frank Wolff Gennady Estraikh (bio) Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund. By Frank Wolff. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2021. xix + 512 pp. The continuing economic development of Imperial Russia and the pre-1880s state policy of "civilizing" Jewish subjects through luring them into general education prepared ever larger numbers of Jews to give up their traditional ways and live a life culturally compatible with that of the urban Christian population. A very small minority even converted to Christianity and thus emancipated themselves from the stifling legal restrictions placed upon adherents of Judaism. However, hundreds of the converts later officially returned to Judaism after realizing that conversion did not alleviate the stigma of their origin. A new stratum of [End Page 220] people, with one leg in traditional society and the other in the non-Jewish world, arose in Russia. Not only state school and university graduates steeped in Russian culture belonged to this stratum. The same or nearby social space was populated by "semi-intelligentsia" (54). This snobby tag described haphazardly educated autodidacts, many of them renegade Talmudic students. Yet secularized "conscious" or "enlightened" workers (soznatel'nye rabochie in Russian, bavustzinike arbeter in Yiddish) formed the most populous group of modernized Russian Jews. They, together with the "semi-intelligentsia," dominated the Jewish civil societal space, sandwiched between the traditional Jewish and the dominant Christian societies. This space—distinct in its lifestyle, social organization, values, and behavior—was an important recruiting ground for diverse political and cultural movements and groupings, including the Jewish Labor Bund established in 1897 by a group of Marxist secular socialists. Characteristically, "workers often tended to retrospectively view joining the workers' movement as an act of conversion." (210) Judging by the level of literacy among Jews arriving in America, people from the modernized groups played a more salient role among the immigrants than among those who stayed in Russia. Not only were they more receptive to radical ideas, but they were also more mobile. Some of them had to leave Russia fleeing persecutions and oppression, though economic reasons for emigration prevailed. The book Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration, originally published in German in 2014 under the title Neue Welten in der Neuen Welt: Die transnationale Geschichte des Allgemeinen Jüdischen Arbeiterbundes, 1897-1947, focuses on one of the cohorts in the Jewish civil societal space: members of the Bund, which had grown into the largest among the Jewish, and generally one of the most numerous, Marxist parties in imperial Russia. At the same time, Russia is mainly a point of departure, because Frank Wolff is primarily interested in what happened to and around the Bundists who chose or had little choice but to emigrate to the United States and Argentina. Although the émigré Bundists did not create any influential organizations of the Party's members, they "inspired the rise of the powerful Jewish organizations of secondary Bundism" (19). Indeed, such eminent figures in the American labor movement as Baruch Charney Vladeck (1886-1938), Sidney Hillman (1887-1946), and David Dubinsky (1892-1982) were Bundists in their youth. Hillman's brainchild, the Amalgamated Bank, established in 1921, still exists as the largest union-owned bank. Bundists became tone-setters in many American Jewish organizations, including the Workmen's Circle (now The Workers Circle), established in 1900. Journalists with a Bundist pedigree played an important role [End Page 221] in the Forverts (Forward), the biggest Yiddish newspaper. Although not a few Bundists jumped on the communist bandwagon, others remained in the circles of uncompromising anti-communist socialists. Many were central in organizing and running Yiddish afternoon schools. A separate study could be devoted to those Bundists who inherited or built successful business enterprises and acted as generous sponsors of Yiddish cultural and other projects. Among them were Motl Zelmanowicz (1914-2010), the last president of the International Jewish Labor Bund, and Bono Wiener (1920-1995), president of the Jewish Labour Bund in Melbourne. Frank Wolff's excellent, though structurally challenging, book contributes a great deal to our understanding of the social environment created by Yiddish-speaking socialists in North...

Value for money in transport infrastructure investment: An enhanced model for better procurement decisions

This paper addresses the nebulous value for money (VfM) concept and its widely-criticised use in justifying the adoption of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for transport infrastructure projects. It draws on the theories of value and identifies that value is generated in the interaction of the supply side (i.e., governments - as project sponsors and part of infrastructure delivery partnerships) and the demand side (i.e., end-users). In this sense, ‘public’ participation in transport is highlighted in the proposed framework to demonstrate that it is the combination of ‘traditional’ and ‘public’ VfM that together create a more meaningful VfM concept. To underpin the application of the framework, a dynamic VfM assessment process is developed that can facilitate the appropriate selection of a procurement method and assess its VfM throughout the project lifecycle. Unlike current examples, the framework is designed for both PPPs and their alternatives (e.g., conventional public sector procurement) and aligns ex-ante and ex-post VfM assessment. The enhanced model creates an opportunity for governments to recognise public VfM in transport interventions, shift their mindset from singular to multi-dimensional evaluation, and start to actually accumulate and exploit experience from past projects. As such, the contribution of this paper is twofold: (1) drawing upon theories of value, it depicts the ontology of VfM and addresses a missing ingredient in VfM assessment; and (2) it develops a holistic framework for the public sector to re-calibrate their VfM assessment policy when procuring transport projects.

Assessment of Risk and Uncertainty Factors Inherent in Nigerian Highway Project Using Analytical Hierarchical Process

The study presents a framework through which risk and uncertainties in Nigeria highway projects can be appraised using the analytical hierarchical process model. Pairwise comparison matrix was performed on eleven (11) risk and uncertainty factors that affect highway project performance through a questionnaire survey conducted among two hundred and four (204) respondents, which involved various stakeholders in the highway construction industry using Saaty’s AHP rating scale. The relative weights (significance/impact level) of each of the highway risk factors were estimated during the AHP model development. The results in descending order of risk factors priorities are Standard & Regulations (S&R), Construction (C), Project Staff (PS), Project Sponsor (PSp), Design (D), Project Finance (PF), Economic (E), Equipment (EQ), Environmental & Geotechnical (En&G), Site Location (SL) and Subcontractor (S) with impact levels of 16.6%, 14.2%, 13.9%, 13%, 12.7%, 12.2%, 10.8%, 9.8%, 6.2%, 4.2%, and 3.8% respectively. The model was validated using the statistical consistency test, with the model showing a consistency ratio equal to 0.1. The model was then applied to five (5) highway construction projects which had been constructed to predict the ones with the most and least risks. The result was in tandem with that which was given by the project managers from experiences on the project. This study showed that the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) decision support model can effectively be used for risk assessment and prioritization of highway construction projects for efficient resource utilization in Nigeria.